Simulation Study of Macromolecules Inaccessible Pore Volume Mechanism in Heterogeneous Porous Media

Polymer is one kind of macromolecules that commonly used in petroleum industry to improve oil recovery. Understanding the propagation mechanism of polymer in porous media is critical to a successful polymer-flooding project. However, the transportation of polymer through porous media is complicated especially when inaccessible pore volume (IPV) is considered. With literature review, many factors including fluid properties, rock properties and operations can influence behavior of IPV for polymer flooding. This paper collected the data from literature review and investigated the main factor that contributes to the IPV value analytically. The data analytics result shows that thesolid entrapment may be the main reason conducting the IPV. Salinity, porosity and shear rate could be the most influencing factors on IPV value of specified polymer. Based on concept of IPV and the influencing factors, this paper also deployed a correlation model to the current simulator in oil industry.